


Kaleidoscope

by stevieraebarnes



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: A little angst, Canon Compliant, Fluff, Friendship, Galaxy Garrison, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Inspirational Lance (Voltron), Kid Keith (Voltron), M/M, POV Keith (Voltron), POV Shiro (Voltron), Post-Kerberos Mission, Pre-Kerberos Mission, Season/Series 04 Spoilers, Sexual Content, Time Travel, briefly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-29
Updated: 2017-10-29
Packaged: 2019-01-26 07:07:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,846
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12551904
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stevieraebarnes/pseuds/stevieraebarnes
Summary: Shiro doesn't just disappear from the Black Lion after Voltron's battle with Zarkon: He lands himself on the Astral Plane, hunted by Haggar and her druids. To escape their clutches, Shiro unwittingly travels through time and visits the same person throughout his life: Keith.Starts at the end of Season 2 and goes through the end of Season 4.





	Kaleidoscope

The bayard was his.

He paused for a fraction of a tick to see that  _yes, the black Bayard, Zarkon's bayard,_ his  _bayard_ , had indeed appeared in his hand after that last impact with the Galra Emperor.

Shiro plunged the weapon into the console slot. Together with Keith, a blazing sword of fire emerged from Voltron, slicing through Zarkon like butter. Victory was theirs, Shiro could feel it. Finally, they had an edge against the tyrant they had battled tirelessly with. He wanted to laugh. He wanted to congratulate the team. He wanted to see the look on Keith’s face: to see it lit up in exhaustion, excitement, surprise, joy. Keith, the one person who had always had Shiro figured out, even from day one. The one person who would know so completely what this victory meant to Shiro. He could drop his guard for this; it wasn’t like Keith didn’t see through it anyways. He always could see through it.

Shiro brought his thoughts to the present, and Keith and him together wielded the final stroke against Zarkon. For one second, Shiro let a laugh break free, and then the next, he was fading. His brain didn’t catch on right away. He stared as his hands became translucent, as the dash of his lion became tangible through his body.

“No,” was all he could whisper before he faded completely.

 

* * *

 

Keith ran.

He ran through the hangars, the other paladins behind him, to the spot where the Black Lion still lay on its side. No movement. No life signs. Nothing, except for the open maw of the lion. Keith ran up the ramp to the cockpit, closely followed by his teammates. And there it was: empty. No Shiro. No sign of him anywhere. Keith placed his hands on the back of the pilot seat and found it cool to the touch. Not even any lingering body heat for Keith to have.

“Where is he?” someone asked.

Keith didn’t answer. All he could think of was how the one person who had been in his life the longest was gone. Again.

This man who had been coming in and out of his life, who he finally got to _just stay_ and be there with them all. With him. He had been waiting for so long. Waiting for Shiro to see him as an equal. To see him as something other than like a brother. They had gotten so close, Keith had felt it. He knew that Shiro had felt it, too.

Keith stared at the empty cockpit some more and wondered where they had gone wrong.

 

* * *

 

Shiro opens his eyes and takes in his surroundings.

It’s the astral plane; he recognizes it from when Black took him and he fought Zarkon. He’s still in his paladin armor, though he’s sans helmet. _Did he take it off?_  He can’t remember. He hears voices, they whip around him like an angry wind. _Get him, bring him to me_ says a voice and Shiro recognizes it. Allura had called her Zarkon’s witch. He feels a tugging. It’s forceful and wrong and knows that it will deposit him onto a Galra ship as a prisoner again. He can’t do that. He refuses. He can’t let them get him and he can’t leave Keith like that again.

 _Keith_.

Shiro wills every ounce of his being into escaping the witch and getting back to Keith.

 _He needs me_ , he thinks, and even in the confusion and sensory overload of the astral plane’s battle of wills, Shiro has the sense and grace to admit, _I need him_.

He’s fading again. It’s faster this time, like an emergency escape.

Going, going, gone.

 

* * *

 

Shiro comes to surrounded by greenery and fresh air.

He’s still in his paladin armor. He’s still without his helmet. But he can breathe and the foliage in front of him tells him exactly where he is. He’s on Earth.

He’s in the corner of a fenced in backyard, with leafy green bushes concealing him. On the ground there are some toy cars and space ships -- a secret hiding spot for someone. Shiro wonders exactly where on the planet he is, though the fencing style and browning lawn edge that stops just at the bushes tell him probably America. He’s lost in thought for awhile, still kneeling on the ground until he hears running footsteps. They’re soft and light and in a rush. The footsteps turn the corner and eyes peer at Shiro, wide in surprise. The eyes are a beautiful deep blue with a hint of purple and framed by dark hair.

Shiro stares at the boy; he knows that he’s doing a weird thing with his face where he is both gaping at him and smiling.

“Hi,” Shiro finally says. “I’m Shiro. Sorry to be in your spot. Do you play here?”

The boy nods, still staring at Shiro. He takes in his armor and he points. “What’s that?” he asks.

“This?” Shiro touches his chest plate. “It’s my suit. I’m a…I’m an astronaut.”

“Really?” He moves closer and touches Shiro’s suit.

Shiro lets the kid invade his space. “Yeah, I just finished a space mission and somehow ended up here in your backyard.”

“Wow.” He says it drawn out, like the word is twenty syllables instead of one. Then, “Did you see my mom?”

It takes Shiro a second to respond to that one. “No, I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay.”

“What’s your name?” Shiro asks. He needs to know for sure. He needs to hear it.

“Keith! Keith Kogane!”

Shiro sighs in relief and then smiles.

“What’s your name again? I forgot.”

“It’s Shiro.”

“Oh yeah. Shiro.”

“How old are you Keith?”

“I’m two. No wait! I forgot. I’m three. I turn four in October.”

The flower blossoms in a nearby tree and blue sky tell Shiro that Keith is probably three and a half.

“Do you want to play with me?” the boy asks.

“Yeah. Sure.”

Keith hands him a car and picks one up for himself. He drives the car over the ground, making car noises. He grabs the space ship with his other hand and fires on the car. There are now explosion sounds. Shiro follows his lead and plays along. Keith for the most part is lost in his own adventure, though he sometimes calls out for Shiro to keep up or to dodge an incoming missile.

Keith stops after a while and turns to look at Shiro.

“Can you tell me about space?”

Shiro pauses to think what he would tell him, then says, “Of course.” He moves from his knees to sit down with his legs crossed. Keith takes that as an invitation to crawl into Shiro’s lap and rest his head against his chest.

With the armor and the extra weight on his legs, Shiro moves again to get comfortable. He stretches his legs out in front of him and leans his back against the fence. Keith mimics him, planted firmly in his lap with his little legs stretched out on top of Shiro’s much larger legs, his small back against Shiro’s torso, rising and falling with the man’s breathing.

“Space is beautiful,” Shiro begins. “All of the planets are different from each other: different colors in swirls and patterns. There are moons all over to explore. It’s a lot of fun.” Most of the time.

“Do you go by yourself?” Keith asks.

“Nope. I’m with my friends. They’re my team and we do everything together. It’s way more fun with them around. Once, we had a space snow ball fight.”

“Wow,” Keith says again. “You get to do that with your friends? Who’s your best friend?”

Shiro laughs. This whole thing is so absurd. “They’re all my closest friends, but there is one in particular. Guess what? His name is Keith.”

“Hey! My name is Keith!”

“I know. Keith is a pretty cool name.”

“I’m going to school soon. Then I’ll have a best friend.”

“That sounds great.” He wants to say more, but he feels less. And he knows he’s starting to fade. “Keith, I have to go now. I’m going back to space.”

Keith turns around in Shiro’s lap and Shiro holds up his hands to show that he’s fading. Keith’s eyes go wide, then he suddenly hugs him round the middle.

“Will you come back?” he asks.

“You’ll see me again,” Shiro says. “It will be a long time, though.” Shiro thinks about the thirteen or fourteen years Keith will have to wait before the Galaxy Garrison. “See you later, Keith,” he chokes out before he’s gone completely, because he can’t bring himself to say goodbye to the three year old version of someone who means so much to him.

He’s back on the astral plane and the voices are shouting now, desperate to reel him in to the witch’s clutches. He tries to plant his feet firmly on the plane, standing against those who wish to harm him. He knows he should be scared. He should be terrified. But all he can think of is the tiny nose on Keith’s face, the smooth roundness of his cheeks, his blunt fingers still figuring out their dexterity around a toy car. He can still feel the pressure of his small, soft body lounging against him like Shiro was comfort and safety personified. Shiro closes his eyes to Haggar, to her druid minions, and commits tiny Keith to memory.

 

* * *

 

Keith searches through the debris-littered space quadrant. He knows it’s a long shot, but Keith still holds out hope that the only way to get Shiro back is to go out and actively look for him. He’s glad for Red’s speed -- it matches his impatience to find him.

Keith’s only been coming out on his own for a few days now, spending every free moment he has getting Allura to wormhole him to different coordinates. Coran has appointed himself as Keith’s partner in this, staying on the comms to ask him questions or make positive suggestions. Keith knows what Coran’s doing, though. He’s not so much as taking on the mission with him as providing Keith with his own version of therapy. Because the others are off on real missions: saving worlds from Galra infantry still stationed and making use of Zarkon’s…absence? Death? Keith doesn’t know. Keith doesn’t care.

He flies Red. He searches. He’ll keep going until he finds something definitive. He can wait. He’s waited before. He knows what it’s like to wait for Shiro. It’s always been worth it.

 

* * *

 

Shiro lands on the ground again behind the bushes in the fenced in backyard.

“It’s you!”

Keith is already in his secret spot. Shiro smiles at the boy and then stops when he’s sees that Keith’s eyes are red.

“Keith? What’s wrong?”

“We’re leaving,” he says flatly. “To the desert.”

_Ah. This part of Keith’s life._

“How old are you?” Shiro asks, although Keith looks just about identical to when he saw him at three.

“Four. You did make me wait a long time!”

Shiro can’t help but laugh at that.

Keith gets mad at his response and starts crying out of anger. “I thought I was going to move without seeing you again!” Keith yells and this stops Shiro’s laugh immediately.

“Oh, Keith.” Shiro holds his arms out to the boy and he nestles himself to Shiro. “I’m so sorry. I’m really, really sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Keith says.

Shiro wraps his arms around the boy and they sit there for a long time.

“You’re still in space?” Keith asks as he pats Shiro’s paladin suit.

“Yep. Still in space.”

“That’s a long time.”

“Maybe for you. But it doesn’t feel like it for me.”

“Keith!” A man’s voice calls from the house. “Time to go!”

Shiro gives Keith a squeeze. “It’s going to be okay, Keith. You’re still going to see me again.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. It’s still going to be a long time, though.”

“But I’ll see you?”

Shiro nods.

“Keith! Now!”

“Okay!” Keith yells back, then turns to Shiro. “Can I give you a kiss?”

 _Oh my God, this kid is adorable_.

“I would love a kiss from you.” He turns his head to offer the side of his face, but Keith moves around to find Shiro’s mouth. He gives him a soft kiss; Shiro just barely feels any pressure as Keith’s lips press to his. There’s a quiet _pop!_ as Keith moves away, but then remembers something.

“Wait!” he says. “One more!”

Shiro doesn’t understand why he needs one more until Keith is pressing another kiss to the bridge of Shiro’s nose: right on his scar.

“There.”

“Thanks, buddy. You better run now.”

“Okay. Bye…what’s your name again?”

He laughs. “It’s Shiro.”

“Oh yeah! Bye, Shiro.” Keith runs off, towards the house, towards the shack in the desert, towards years of abandonment and neglect. Shiro wants to hold on to Keith some more, to comfort him, but he knows he has to let him go. He sits there, on the ground. He listens to the sound of the house closing up. A vehicle door opening and closing. The engine turns over and revs, then drifts away. Shiro remains against the fence, alone. He pulls his knees to his chest and wraps his arms around them. He then buries his head into the tops of his legs and tells himself to breathe. He remembers Keith’s hug, his kisses, and he realizes he is lost for this kid. He always has been. He smiles to himself until he fades back to the astral plane.

 

* * *

 

“Shiro is out there! Our leader is out there! You all seem to have forgotten that.”

It’s another dinner with another world’s representatives. They’re asking where Voltron is and Allura keeps trying to tell them that it’s right here when it’s not. Not even close.

“There is no Voltron without Shiro!” he yells.

Keith storms out of the dinning hall, breathes a sigh of relief when he doesn’t hear them come after him. He makes his way through the castleship. Quickly. Determinedly. His brain tries to keep up with where his feet are taking him. He knows he’s heading to safety, but where? Where is safe for him now?

His brain catches up when his feet leave him outside a door in the hallway of the paladin dormitories. It’s not his room though. It’s Shiro’s.

Keith opens and closes the door once he’s inside and makes directly for Shiro’s bed. It’s perfectly made, but that doesn’t stop Keith from diving face first into it. He stretches out, snaking his arms under the pillow and burying his face into the lingering smell that has yet to fade. Shiro has always been the epitome of Keith’s sense of safety. Even the visits had come when Keith was feeling particularly alone or on edge. He never got to the point where he could tell Shiro about the visits, and if Shiro doesn’t come back, he never will.

 _He has to_ , Keith thinks furiously. Because Keith knows that if Shiro is really gone, then how would he have memories of a lone black paladin? He can’t lose those.

Keith closes his eyes and loses himself to Shiro’s bed, to memories of him, and to sleep.

 

* * *

 

The last time on the astral plane had been closer than he liked. Whatever residual energy he’s using from his lion and from the black bayard is starting to wean. That’s what Shiro figures is happening anyways. He doesn’t know for sure. He had been pulled too close; the druids reaching for him. They always looked the same on the astral plane. It made Shiro wonder if time was moving differently for them on the plane.

This time Shiro’s in the shack. It looks lived in this time, unlike the boarded up state it was in when Keith took him out here while they were both at the Garrison. Keith was a young cadet with no one to lean on. Shiro was a brand new officer looking to take on someone under his wing. They’d worked out perfectly. Shiro remembers that Keith didn’t open up to anyone at the Garrison and never offered up any words beyond those he deemed necessary. But with Shiro it had been different. The first time he spotted Shiro, he immediately knew him. Shiro knew him, too. Had seen his simulator scores. He had been itching to find this first year Keith Kogane.

Shiro figured Keith had known him by reputation. It was Shiro’s own scores that Keith had been threatening. But now Shiro wonders if Keith had already known him because he just did. Wonders if he had known him since Keith was three.

The door to the shack opens and Keith of the moment walks in. Shiro puts away his memories and focuses on the boy in front of him. His hair and his eyes are wild, his face full of fear and concern.

He sees Shiro, a familiar face in his familiar paladin armor, and runs to him.

“Shiro!”

“Keith. I’m here.” Keith looks a few years older than the last time he saw him. Maybe seven or eight.

“He’s gone!” Keith says into Shiro’s shoulder plate. Shiro, who had dropped down to a knee to accommodate for their height difference, just hugs him tighter.

“Your dad?” Shiro guesses.

“Yeah.”

“How long has it been?”

“Three days.”

_Jesus._

“Are you hungry? Do you need food?”

“I’ve been eating cereal.”

Shiro gives him a look.

“And fruit!”

Shiro gets up and moves to the kitchen. Keith follows him, watching to see what Shiro does. He finds the pantry and plucks a can of soup from the shelves.

“Where’s a pot I can use?” he asks Keith.

Keith moves to a cupboard and reveals a few pots and pans. Shiro picks the size he wants and puts it on the stove. He lights the burner and then looks for a can opener.

“Probably in this one,” Keith says, opening a drawer filled with a variety of utensils.

Shiro does find the can opener and pours the contents of the soup into the pot. He grabs a wooden spoon and gives it a stir.

Keith sits down at the small square wooden table in the kitchen. He watches Shiro stir the soup without saying anything. The soup begins to bubble and Shiro turns the burner down. He lets the soup simmer for a bit more, then turns the flame off. He opens up a few top cupboards before finding a bowl. He fills it with soup then digs around for cutlery. He sits down at the table with Keith and pushes the bowl and spoon towards the boy.

“It’s hot,” Shiro says in warning. “Stir and blow on it first.”

Keith looks at him for a second, then shakes his head.

“What do I do, Shiro?”

He knows Keith isn’t asking about the soup. And he knows this can only go one way.

“You’re going to call the emergency line. You’re going to tell them that your dad has been missing for three days and that you’re by yourself. They’ll come get you.”

“Is my dad coming back?”

Shiro’s heart breaks, but he answers honestly. Because he knows. Keith told him.

“No, Keith. He’s not.”

Keith looks down at the soup, pushes the spoon around.

“Why are people always leaving me?” he asks.

Shiro battles the sob trying to break from his throat. Finally, “When you’re older, you’ll have a team of people you can count on.”

“A team? Like you have a team?”

“Yeah. Exactly.”

“You said there’s a Keith on your team.”

“Oh. Uh, yeah. You remember that?”

“Of course. It’s my name.”

“Right.”

“Is it me? The Keith on your team. Is it me?”

Shiro looks at Keith and knows there is no way he can lie to him.

“Yes. It’s you. But you can’t say anything. Not to anyone. And not to me when we meet.”

“But we’ve already met.”

“You’ll understand when you’re older. Maybe. You and _I_ have met. But not the me living here right now who becomes your teammate.”

“But I want to be _your_ teammate.”

“You will. You just have to give it some time. I’m still growing into…” Shiro looks down and shrugs at himself. “I’m still growing into this,” and he gestures to all of himself. “But Keith, I don’t have much time. I never have enough time. You’re going to eat your soup. When I disappear, you’re going to call the authorities. The phone still works, yeah?”

“Yeah. I know what to do. Just hit the red emergency services button on the screen.”

“Good. You tell them the truth. Your dad is missing. You’re by yourself. They’ll come get you. Don’t mention me, though.”

“I never do.”

Shiro pauses at that, then realizes that he’s just glad and leaves it at that.

“Listen to the adults and be polite, but if they do anything to hurt you, you get out of there okay? Call emergency again. Fight back if you have to. Just because your parents are missing does not give anyone the right to take advantage of you, you hear me?”

“Okay,” Keith says, his eyes a bit wide.

“I’m serious, Keith. Learn to fight. Learn to take on guys bigger than you. Run when you have to.”

“Shiro…”

“It’s just precaution, okay Keith? But please. Take it seriously.” Shiro can feel himself starting to fade and he begins to panic. He is leaving a boy by himself to call the authorities to bring him into care. Not just any boy. Keith.

Shiro feels his heart pound against his sternum and suddenly he’s at a loss of what to say.

“Keith…I’m going. I’m so sorry.”

Keith stands up suddenly and reaches for him, his breath starting to come faster and faster.

“No, Shiro, please,” he gets out.

Shiro tries to put on a brave face. “It’s okay. We’ll see each other again. It will be a long time…”

“You always say that!”

“…But we’ll meet up again.” Shiro pauses. He feels like he should say more, but he’s going and he’s starting to wonder how much of Keith’s childhood he’s had an impact on. How much damage has he caused? But part of him also wonders if it’s always been there. And he knows that this child in front of him – he loves him. Not the same way he does for his Keith, in his present, but still.

“Keith, I…” he can’t do it. Not yet. Not to this kid. He didn’t even know himself what he felt until Voltron.

“You what, Shiro?”

“Later, okay? Much later. Just don’t say anything about this when you meet me in your time!”

“I still don’t know what you’re talking about!” is the last thing Shiro hears from Keith.

 

* * *

 

“No.”

Keith sits in the cockpit of the Black Lion. Shiro’s lion.

The lion has remained in a comatose state on the floor of the hangar ever since the fight with Zarkon. Ever since Shiro went missing. Keith is the last one to sit after Allura ordered him into the lion. Before that, Keith had been demonstrating a point blank refusal to step foot in there.

“It’s Shiro’s lion,” he had told her.

“Shiro’s not here,” Allura had shot back.

Keith continues to sit in the pilot seat, gripping the controls in anger as he watches the lion’s console come to life in front of Keith.

“No, please, no!” He pleads.

The lion roars instead.

Keith exits the lion to hopeful expressions on everyone’s faces and a surprisingly mature pep talk from Lance. Shiro had been right: he did find good teammates. He just wishes it didn’t have to be at the expense of not having Shiro. Plus, Keith knows that if he can fly Black, then Voltron will be busier than ever. It will mean less time Keith can look for him.

 

* * *

 

Shiro sits in a clinical room. It’s like a doctor’s office with some brightly colored decals on the wall. He’s on a small cot with a bright yellow blanket. Keith is sitting next to him.

Keith sports a huge bruise across his cheekbone and a black eye. Shiro doesn’t ask. He just slowly moves his gloved fingers to softly touch the mark.

“Foster dad,” Keith explains. “I’m with Protective Services. They’re briefing my new family right now.”

“How old are you, Keith?” Shiro asks.

“Ten.”

They don’t speak anymore. Shiro holds out his arms and Keith clambers into them. Shiro holds him close, rests his face in Keith’s hair, and they just sit there in comfort. After a few minutes, Shiro feels the telltale sign of leaving. It’s shorter than his other visits to Keith. He presses a kiss to the top of his head.

“I’m heading back,” he says to the boy.

“Thanks for coming, Shiro.”

Shiro looks Keith in the face, and finds that Keith is genuinely glad for his presence. Shiro reaches out one last time.

 

* * *

 

So. The universe wants to keep playing some sort of sick joke with Keith? Fine. But he really wishes it would leave Shiro out of it.

Keith’s on edge. He feels like he’s stumbling blindly through his leadership role, especially since Lotor made off with the comet. But the worst had been Shiro. Finding Shiro from an alternate universe had Keith seeing red. Different hair. Different name. Different accent. Same self-sacrificing bastard.

  
Keith knows the team is looking to him for answers. What do they do about Lotor? What about the comet? What about the Galra Empire? Why are they operating on two separate fronts? All Keith can think about was why did it have to be Shiro’s face on that very much _alive_ man they found on the Altean ship? And why did he have to watch him get blasted by the enemy? But Shiro’s been gone for awhile now and Keith pushes him aside and focuses on Lotor.

 

* * *

 

Shiro knows time is almost out.

He’s more and more tired on the astral plane. He can’t even stand anymore. After leaving the Child Protective Service’s safe room, he had found himself on all fours, trying to dig into the plane’s surface for any kind of purchase against the Galra that have pulled him closer and closer. He can see the witch’s sneer from beneath her hood as purple lightning cascades all around. It’s loud and destructive and he so desperately wants to be away.

 

Shiro finds himself sitting on a bed and he instantly recognizes where he is.

It’s a Galaxy Garrison dorm and one quick look around tells him this is Keith’s room. He stands up to inspect the items around the room: study tools on the desk, Keith’s red moto jacket slung over the chair. Shiro reaches out to feel the jacket. It’s so real and exactly how he remembers it. He smiles, then looks at the door when he hears footsteps and a voice. He knows that voice. Well, he knows the word choices; the voice sounds weird in his ears. So different from how it sounds in his head. It’s his voice.

Shiro moves to the closet and hopes he’ll escape notice.

“I still can’t get over your sim run!” he hears his younger-self say. “You know, I can get extra time and we could practice on our own.”

“Yeah?” Keith responds. “That would be amazing. Let me know when and I’ll be there.”

Younger Shiro gives a laugh at Keith’s eagerness. They stop right outside the door. Shiro hears the door whoosh open.

“You can come in if you want,” Keith says.

 _Oh, shit_.

“Thanks, Keith, but I actually have a meeting with Iverson in twenty minutes. I’m kinda nervous about it.”

 _Oh yeah_ , Shiro remembers. It’s when Iverson told him they were planning on putting him on the Kerberos mission. It meant that Shiro had only nine months at the Garrison with Keith, but they had immediately fallen into an easy and deep friendship. While Keith seemed to look at everyone else like they were aliens speaking a different language, Keith could read Shiro like an open book.

“Oh. I’m sure it’s fine,” Keith offers to younger Shiro.

“Yeah, well. You never know with Iverson.” He gives a laugh. “But we’ll hang out another time! And I want to fly the sim with you!”

“Definitely.”

“And I’m usually in the cafeteria for dinner around 1800.”

“One of my favorite times for dinner,” Keith says.

“Alright, alright,” Shiro laughs again. “I’ll see you around, Keith.”

“Yes, you will.”

There are footsteps leading away from the room, but the door remains open and Shiro can’t hear Keith moving. Then, he hears what sounds like a breath escaping forcefully and the closing of Keith’s room door. Keith walks towards his bed to sit down, but stops himself to look at the left behind blanket rumples indicative of someone sitting there.

Shiro chooses this moment to make himself known.

“Well. That could’ve been awkward.”

Keith spins around, ready to lay into whoever broke into his room until his eyes and brain process the voice and the image before him.

“Shiro!!” he excitedly whispers.

“Yes?!” Shiro loudly whispers back.

“You’re here! You’re here! And I just met you…you were just outside!”

“Yeah, I heard. Wait, today was the day that you met me??”

“Yeah! I was freaking out the whole time!”

“Okay. Calm down. Don’t worry about it. When I met you, I figured you were just super excited to meet me because I was Takashi Shirogane.”

Keith snorts. “Of course you would.”

“Hey! I didn’t know any better! And you can’t change that.”

“I know! I didn’t say anything. Don’t worry. But I think we’re becoming friends,” Keith says with a smile.

“Well, yeah. Of course we are. I was so excited to meet you. I’d never seen a first year come in and put up the scores you did.”

Keith looks at the floor, but Shiro can see a smile on his face and a faint blush.

Shiro walks over to Keith’s bed and plops down again.

“Still in your astronaut armor, I see,” Keith says.

“Yeah. Still in space. Doing…space stuff.”

“You always look the same.”

Shiro gives him a questioning look, then wonders what he’ll have to say if Keith pursues that line of thinking. _I’m trapped on the astral plane after evil forces pulled me out of my lion and now I’m traveling through your upbringing because I’m hung up on you_. Yeah, probably not.

“Why are you still in the armor?” Keith asks instead.

“Because it’s what I’m wearing.” Obviously.

“No, I mean, why are you still wearing it.” Keith moves to his bed and scoots closer to Shiro. He runs his fingers along the armor, looking for seams. “How do you take this off?”

Alarms are blaring in Shiro’s head. How old is Keith right now? Seventeen? Shiro by now is probably closer twenty-six or seven. Jesus.

“It takes some maneuvering to get off, which is why I just stay in it,” Shiro deflects.

Keith locks eyes with Shiro, his hand still on Shiro’s back, their faces close.

“Shiro…what are we?”

“I don’t know, Keith.”

“You don’t know?” Keith looks incredulous. “How do you not know?” Keith doesn’t seem to understand how Shiro could not have all of the answers to their future.

“We’re friends,” Shiro begins. “Best friends.” Keith raises an eyebrow, questioning his answers. “There’s something more there,” Shiro admits, “but no one’s done anything about it.”

“Yet,” Keith asserts.

“Uh.”

Keith leans in with slightly parted lips and kisses Shiro on the mouth. They stay like that for a moment, Shiro too stunned to do anything, until Keith releases him. Keith stays close, searching Shiro’s eyes for clues to if everything’s okay.

“Well, that was way different from when you were four,” Shiro blurts out.

“What? What are you talking about?!”

“Yeah, you kissed me when you were four. You remember your secret play area in the backyard behind the bushes?”

“No I didn’t.”

“Uh, yeah, you definitely did. It was your last day at that house before you moved out here and you gave me a goodbye kiss. I thought you were going to kiss me on the cheek or something, but no. Not Keith Kogane. Always goes full throttle even at age four.”

“Oh my god.”

“It was really cute. I’ve been cherishing it ever since. And you kissed the scar on my nose.”

“Okay…well, what about, now?” Keith asks. He’s shy all of a sudden. Shiro has always been bemused that Keith could be so impulsive and shy at the same time.

“Well, now is a bit more complicated,” Shiro admits.

“Why?”

“Because I’m in your life now. For real. Not some weird time-travel visits. And right now, the me you were talking to in the hallway, I’m not into you romantically. But I really want to be your friend.” Shiro pauses. “Keith? Do you think you can just be my friend?”

Keith sighs. “Yeah.”

“Just be you, Keith. I loved hanging out with you here. And I’ll admit, I always knew there was something different about you and me. But it’s going to take me a few years to figure out what I feel.”

“What do you feel, Shiro?”

“That’s only something I can tell to the Keith from where I come from. We all reserve the right to change our minds, you know.”

“You are so frustrating,” Keith grits out.

Shiro decides to throw him a bone. “I know,” he says and he wraps his arms around the young man and pulls him closer.

Keith takes advantage by using the momentum to slide onto Shiro’s lap, entangling Shiro in Keith’s arms and legs.

“Oh, quiznak,” Shiro whispers.

Keith looks at him. “What did you say?”

“Nothing. You’ll learn it later.”

Keith narrows his eyes at Shiro, but decides not to waste any time on it and nestles his face into Shiro’s neck and shoulder. It’s how Keith has always hugged Shiro, he remembers. Like he wants to melt into him. He feels Keith press more, using a knee on the bed to leverage him into pushing Shiro down and Keith with him. Shiro just sighs decides to just make the most of this feeling of Keith in his arms.

“Enjoy it while you can,” he says to Keith. “This is my parting gift to you.”

“Will you visit again?” Keith’s voice rumbles against his collarbone.

“I don’t know.”

“What?”

“You’ve never mentioned any of my past visits to me, so I don’t know.”

“Never?”

“Nope.”

“I wonder why.”

“I have no idea. Sometimes, you’re kind of a mystery, Keith… But all of this, seeing your past self, it’s been a really nice surprise.”

“Maybe I’m just waiting for you to confess your love to me so I can reveal that I’ve already made out with you.”

“It was one kiss!”

“Or maybe you don’t like me anymore so I have to keep all of this to myself.”

“No comment.”

“Maybe _I_ don’t like _you_ anymore so it doesn’t even matter.”

“Doesn’t feel that way, but maybe.”

They lie there on Keith’s bed in a comfortable silence until Shiro begins to feel a familiar nothingness in his fingers and toes. It’s time.

“Keith, I want you to know that no matter what, I care for you. Okay?”

“Yeah, okay Shiro, what…? Shiro! You’re fading!”

Keith surges up and claims Shiro’s mouth again, but this time Shiro can’t help but participate. He feels Keith open and Shiro is there, deepening the kiss until Shiro is tasting lips, teeth, and tongue. Shiro breaks away, both of them breathing heavily, in time for him say “goodbye” and then he’s gone.

 

* * *

 

He found him. Keith finally found him.

Okay, so Black had found him, but Keith had been in the cockpit and together they had traveled to bring Shiro home. Keith wasn’t sure what to expect when Shiro returned, maybe how he had looked when Keith had broken him out of military quarantine. Shiro was dressed in the same Galra prisoner body suit and tunic, but whoever held him captive didn’t bother about keeping up appearances. Shiro’s hair was long, past his shoulders, but only about a month’s worth of facial hair.

Shiro had passed out while they made their way to the infirmary. He did his time in a healing pod, and then back to his own room for rest.

Keith stands in Shiro’s room with the lights dim in their frequent comfortable silence only the two of them can make. But Shiro breaks it.

“I’m sorry, Keith. I know you want answers, but my mind is a mess right now.”

“I know. It’s okay. I just want to make sure that you know I’m here for you. Whenever.”

“Thanks, Keith.” Shiro can barely even look at Keith, but Keith knows it’s not aversion; it’s tiredness. Shiro is trying his best to look alert and remain upright. Which means that Keith is still on leadership duties. He reminds himself to be patient. That Shiro just got back. That Keith can play leader for a little more until Shiro takes up the mantle again. It’s what Keith’s more comfortable with: looking to Shiro about what to do. He feels like he’s been asking Shiro that question his whole life. _What do I do?_

“Get some rest,” Keith says to him. “We need you out there.” He’s surprised at how authoritative he sounds, and turns to leave. He’s not a teen anymore, they’re in a castleship full of people who depend on them, and Shiro’s in no state of mind. Keith can walk away from him without doing something stupid first. Invasive. Something he would have done when he was seventeen.

Shiro calls to him before he’s out the door.

“How many times are you going to have to save me before this is over?”

“As many times as it takes,” Keith says with a smile.

 

* * *

 

 Shiro watches Keith leave and lays back down. His brain feels foggy as it drifts to sleep, but he can’t stop thinking about Keith looks older than he remembers. Older, wiser, more in control. He knows that this information means something, but he can’t grasp it as he drifts away. As he does so, a memory of Keith’s lips on his comes to mind and he sleeps peacefully.

 

* * *

 

Shiro finally has Keith to himself.

They’re on the bridge after Keith decided to listen to no one and let Lotor shoot the cargo for them. Yeah, maybe he yelled at some people and refused to communicate, but Shiro’s actually in awe of Keith’s split second decisions. He’s just not sure if he can condone the behavior. Because, well, Pidge. Lance. Hunk. Allura. They may all bond through the Lions, but they don’t know Keith’s words like Shiro does.

“You did good back there,” he says to Keith. “But you need to listen to your team.”

And then they argue.

They’re not mean about it. They just disagree. Keith thinks Shiro should be leader again. Keith thinks he’s not good enough. Shiro knows Keith’s good enough. It’s his own self that he isn’t sure about; if he should still be leading considering the headaches and the PTSD. Oh, and that Black won’t fly for him anyways. So, it’s up to Keith whether he wants the job or not.

Keith begins to look moody and like he’s going to excuse himself from Shiro’s presence. His body curves to show his withdrawal into himself, arms still by his side, but one perceived negative comment away from folding across his chest. But Shiro has a gift for him.

“Hey Keith,” he starts and stops until Keith is looking straight at him, waiting.

“So, you were _really_ cute as a three year old.”

Keith’s eyes go wide in shock.

“You were so tiny! And you had these cheeks that I just wanted to pinch. And you sat on my lap while I told you stories about space, but when you were four you gave me the most adorable kisses, unlike when you were, oh my god, I can’t believe that happened…” Shiro trails off, realizing that he totally corrupted a seventeen-year-old Keith and can’t believe he couldn’t have used better discipline, when he realizes that Keith is crying.

Shiro doesn’t hesitate. He pulls Keith in to his arms and holds him close. It’s what he’s always done.

“That’s where you were?!” Keith says through his tears.

“At first, yeah. It was…amazing. But the astral plane, where I was sent to, I wasn’t the only one there. Zarkon’s druids were trying to get at me. And each trip I made to you left me weaker and weaker.”

Keith gives a sob.

“Ssshh, Keith. It’s okay. I didn’t really have any control over it. I was just trying to keep away from them and it kept bring me to you until I couldn’t do it anymore.”

“Are you okay?”

“I’m here,” Shiro says simply.

“What does this mean for us?” Keith asks.

“It means whatever we want. We’re our own people.”

“It’d be nice to just move forward. At the same time.”

“Yeah. I’m sorry I mucked up your childhood.”

“You were the most stable thing about my childhood.”

“You’re not worried I forced you into a weird co-dependency with me?”

Keith glared at him. “You weren’t there _that_ much. You just kind of popped in on my life a few times for, like, ten minutes. It’s not that much to cause any sort of psychological damage.”

“Really?”

“Wait, you are really worried about this, aren’t you?!?”

“Well, yeah. I pushed my tongue down your throat when you were only seventeen! And I was this age!”

“Yes, and I really, really wanted you to.” Keith takes a breath. “I still want you to.”

Shiro focuses even more on Keith. He knows Keith’s not done talking.

“But Lotor is still out there and with me having to call the shots as Voltron…I’m already barely managing, Shiro.”

“You’re doing great, Keith. And I’m here to help now. We’ll find a groove.”

“I just want things to go back to the way they were.”

“You know that’s impossible.”

“Yeah, I know,” Keith agrees. “I still wish for it.”

“Well, I don’t. I finally got to have a moment with you. _You_ you. Not past you. Plus, I’m looking forward to what the future has for us.”

Keith examines Shiro’s face, but he’s looking pointedly away with a smile.

“Are you planning something?”

“Nope.”

“How can you be this calm about everything?”

“I’m not that calm. Especially when you’re off on your own or in danger or doing something reckless…”

“Yeah, yeah, I get your point. It’s just, I know I’m a paladin of Voltron, and everyone looks at me to lead, but I don’t…”

“Don’t what, Keith?”

“I don’t know if I really belong here.”

Shiro frowns. “You do belong. If you can convince me that I belong, then you definitely belong.”

“What a pair we are.”

Shiro laughs. They do make a fine pair. They both underestimate themselves and won’t listen when their friends try to build them up.

“It’s just,” Keith continues, “I feel like there might be a place that I do belong. And it’s not here.”

That threw Shiro.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean that I’m torn. I’m torn between finding out more about myself with the Blades and…”

“And Voltron?”

Keith shakes his head. “I’m torn between the Blades and you.”

“I’d never stand in your way, Keith. I hope you know that.”

“I know. It’s not you that stands in my way. It’s me.”

“Kolivan’s still here,” Shiro says.

“Yeah. I think I’ll talk to him. And I know it can’t get in the way of Voltron. So, I’m not going to have much time.”

And Shiro knows what Keith has been trying to say this whole time. What he wants. How his wants conflict with each other. How he has an opportunity now. That it’s Shiro’s turn to wait. He can do that. He can wait. He owes Keith that much. Owes him more.

“Talk to Kolivan,” Shiro says.

Keith gently pulls on the back of Shiro’s neck until they meet for a kiss. It’s gentle and time stopping.

“I needed that,” Keith says when he pulls away.

“Anytime, Keith. Anytime.” Shiro still feels a bit hazy. But suddenly, he finally knows what it’s like to be left behind.

 

* * *

 

 Keith knows they’re pissed. He’s had the lecture from Allura. He’s heard the snide remarks from Lance. He knows he messed up. He wasn’t there for the team. He chose the Blades. Again. He chose the missions that really hit the Galra Empire. Took away weapons and vital information from them. Took them for their own.

But as much as Keith would _probably_ make the same decisions again, maybe with some tweaks that would save Antok, Keith is afraid. He’s been away more than he’s been with Voltron. He wasn’t there for them. He wasn’t there for Shiro. What must Shiro think of him now?

He walks onto the Bridge and there they are. All of them. And they are all angry. He begins to talk, to explain himself. Shiro softens first, and Keith knows that he’s just angry that it’s come to this. He knows what Keith’s after. He’s probably just mad that he has to be leader again. Now they can have two leaders that disappear. Geez, out of the black paladins, the one who wanted it the most was Zarkon.

He hears them talking and then he hears himself responding. He congratulates Shiro on flying Black again. Keith’s relieved and he knows he shows it. Shiro deserves Black. How could Keith take that away?

He’s talking again.

“The team doesn’t need me anymore. I’d like to join the Blades full time.” He looks at Shiro.

There’s an outcry about him leaving Team Voltron. How he’ll always be a member. That he can’t forget them. Because when it came down to it, Shiro gave his blessing as far as the team is concerned.

“Keith, we’ll always support you. But just know that we’re here for you whenever you need us.”

“I know you are. And I can’t tell you how much that means to me.”

Shiro pulls Keith in for a hug, but it’s careful and distant with the team surrounding them, watching their every move. Shiro doesn’t need to deal with their endless questions by himself. Especially when Keith doesn’t even know what they are. It doesn’t stop Keith from burying his face into Shiro’s clavicle because there are some things he can’t give up. He feels Shiro’s hands on him and memorizes their feel. He’s in the middle of sinking into Shiro when several pairs of arms wrap around him, pressing him and Shiro together as the other paladins plus Coran turn it into a huge Voltron hug.

He’s leaving on a good note, it’s the best Keith could hope for. Just as he turns his back, Shiro calls out to him.

“Keep in contact, okay? We all have our comms.”

Keith smiles at him and nods. He understands what Shiro wants.

But then Shiro smiles at him with this crazy grin and says, “See you later.”

Yeah? Keith guesses so…eventually.

 

* * *

 

Keith is tired.

The Blades have lost more members. The missions are getting riskier. And Keith volunteers for everything that comes his way. He’s not sleeping. Keith’s found it hard to sleep now that he’s said his goodbyes to Voltron. In his heart, he thinks that he’ll make his way back there, but he doesn’t think it’ll be the same. He thinks about Shiro, about how maybe when he gets back to his room he’ll try to get him on screen to talk. It’s been awhile since they’ve talked to each other. They don’t even have to talk. He just wants to see him. _Quiznak, I’m tired_.

Keith opens the door to his room and shuts it once he’s inside. He stops when he spots the person inside. The very familiar person perched on his bed. He’s in his black paladin armor, no helmet, and that familiar undercut that Keith hasn’t seen in awhile. This is Shiro -- from the past, from the astral plane of months ago. How is he here?

“Quiznak,” Keith says outloud.

“See! I told you you’d learn it later!”

 

* * *

 

Shiro looks around the astral plane. The witch is looming over him, but he can’t get up. He can’t run.

“No,” he says, more to himself than to the druids.

“No?” She says. “You belong to us now, thief. You are no Black Paladin. Not any more.”

“No,” Shiro says again, but his voice is hoarse and he’s so tired he can barely breathe. He collapses onto the plane, and he knows Zarkon’s witch has him now. He closes his eyes and thinks of him.

“ _Keith_ ,” he whispers.

 

 

Shiro opens his eyes. He’s in a room he doesn’t recognize, on a bed he doesn’t know. But he takes a deep breath, and lets the room air fill his senses. With each breath he feels more real, more alive.

The door opens and Shiro wasn’t sure who else he was expecting, but there stands exactly who and not-who he thought he would see.

Keith looks at Shiro with surprise all over his face. He’s in a Blades of Marmora full body suit with the hood down and mask off. Shiro doesn’t know why Keith would be wearing the suit. And he doesn’t remember it coming with a hood. Not to mention that Shiro is pretty certain he is not on castleship. Did he travel to Keith’s future?

He hears Keith swear a sharp Quiznak! and teases him about it.

“You came from the astral plane?” Keith asks him.

“Yes.” Well that settles that. Definitely future Keith.

“I didn’t know you would visit me anymore.” Keith says.

That’s a loaded statement. Shiro wants to ask why that is. Did they rescue him? Did they find his dead body? Did they find nothing at all?

“I never know when I’m going to visit you,” is what he says instead.

“It’s okay,” Keith says. “You’re okay. I mean, right now. In this time. You’re leading Voltron.”

“I make it back?” Shiro whispers.

“Yeah. You did. Uh, you do, I mean.”

Shiro closes his eyes and puts his face in his hands. He hears Keith moving around, messing with something, and then feels the bed take his weight as he sits next to Shiro. He feels Keith’s hands on him, and at first Shiro thinks he’s trying to rub his back until he feels Keith find the latches of his armor and he begins to open him up.

“Guess you also learned how to take the armor off since I last saw you.” He looks up from his hands and sees Keith’s room. What was once a spotless floor is now home to a discarded Blades suit. Shiro looks at his side and spies Keith. He’s so close and there’s so much skin. There’s a long pink scar across the top of his shoulder from when he took the Trials and a couple other scars that Shiro remembers Keith getting, but right now there’s so much flesh and leg and Shiro feels Keith’s hands on him as they pull away the armor leaving him free and weightless.

“I know we don’t have much time,” Keith says.

And Shiro’s brain goes dead at that.

He knows his body works because he’s helping Keith with the armor now, gives one last final tug before he’s completely out of his suit.

Keith gently moves him back on the bed, one hand cradling the nape of his neck, the other pressing his chest down to the mattress. Shiro watches Keith straddle him, watches Keith lower his face to his.

Shiro’s brain finally turns over and he brings his hands to Keith’s face and pulls him towards him. He kisses him softly at first, then hungrily as his hands wander along Keith’s jaw, down his neck and shoulders, and along his back.

Keith’s hands are also busy; one hand still holds the back of Shiro’s head while the other has reached behind Keith and now sweeps up along the top of Shiro’s thigh, making its way to his hip, his stomach.

They can’t stop. Keith licks at Shiro like a man starved. Shiro brings his hand back around to swipe a thumb across Keith’s nipple, which elicits a soft gasp from the Keith on top of him and a quick rocking of his hips into Shiro. He wants so badly to hear that again from Keith, to feel that from him. He moves his hands with purpose down Keith’s back until they meet the curving flesh of his ass. Shiro squeezes.

Keith’s reaction is instantaneous, and Shiro can feel both of their bodies’ responses. Keith is grinding into him so Shiro reaches down to take him in hand. Keith readjusts himself to let Shiro control, and he starts to pump. Keith lets out a moan, losing himself to their sensations. And then,

“Shiro!” Keith cries out. He starts to thrust into Shiro’s fist. “Yes, yes, yes…”

Shiro can tell he’s about to lose it.

He does, not much later, all over Shiro’s hand and torso. Keith’s eyes are closed above him and his breathing is ragged, but then Keith opens them and looks at Shiro with eyes that are filled with determination and lust. He lowers himself further down the bed and, apparently, Keith is a perfect gentleman because he moves himself between Shiro’s legs to reciprocate and licks his still hard cock from base to tip.

“Oh, quiznak,” Shiro says as Keith swallows him whole.

 

* * *

 

Shiro has finally made it to his room for sleep after a long day of coalition duties. After a quick clean up and a change into new boxers and a t-shirt, he climbs into bed to sleep. It’s just as he closes his eyes that he hears the soft alert from his personal comms tablet.

He waits a tick, then decides to see who it is. It could be Keith, but it’s probably Pidge. Or Matt.

But it’s Keith and he immediately accepts.

“Hey, Keith. What’s going on?”

“Oh my god, Shiro!” Keith sputters out.

Shiro doesn’t understand Keith’s tone. He knows it’s been a few quintents, but that’s not that much time. Shiro takes in Keith’s face: he’s keyed up, his eyes are bright, and his hair is rumpled around in a way that makes it look like he’s been styled by a good tousling…

“Oh my god,” Shiro repeats. “Was I just there???” And Shiro is grinning at Keith as he remembers exactly what happened.

“You just left,” Keith says. “Your armor left, too. That surprised me since it was all over the place.”

“Yeah, I reappeared with it back on. I was incredibly thankful for that. I did not want to appear in front of Haggar completely naked and covered in you.”

“Oh no! I didn’t even think of that!”

Shiro just laughs. “Well…?” He asks.

Keith blushes a little. “Your touch is amazing,” he says.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. Your hands on me…all over my skin. Ugh, there’s no way I could hold out for very long.”

“I liked seeing you,” Shiro admits, then wonders if that’s something he should keep to himself.

“Seeing me?” Keith asks.

He’s already committed. “Seeing you fall apart. Watching you come above me. By my hand.” Keith waits and Shiro continues, “You were raw and…beautiful.”

Keith turns a deeper shade of red, but Shiro has been waiting months to talk about what happened between them.

“Well,” Keith says eventually. “Next time, I get to see you fall apart, since I was, uh, a little busy…”

“Going down on me?” Shiro supplies. “You were incredible, Keith.”

“I wish you were still here.”

“I wish _I_ was there.”

“I wish you were here, too.”

“Really?”

“I love you, Shiro.”

Shiro smiles at Keith. Knows that it’s finally time.

“I love you too, Keith.”

“Can I expect any more visits from astral plane you?”

“No. That’s it.”

“So, you’re in their clutches now.”

“Yeah. But I make it out.” Shiro smiles at Keith to comfort him.

Keith changes the subject. “So, what can I expect next time I’m on castleship?” he says with a grin.

“Depends on how much time we have. And if the other paladins are following us around. You might want to just sneak aboard, instead,” Shiro says with a laugh.

“I’ll use my Blades training,” Keith promises.

 

* * *

 

There’s too much.

Everything is too much and Shiro knows he’s close to losing it. The Galra fleet of destroyers. Allura. Voltron trapped. The planet’s bomb. Lotor. And Matt. Specifically, what Matt has just told Shiro. About Keith. Keith.

Shiro takes things one at a time. The team is alive. Voltron is safe. They stand on the bridge of the castleship with Coran. Lotor is on board, but secure. And Keith is…

Keith walks onto the bridge and Shiro freezes. His own logic and emotions are at war with each other and can’t decide how to feel about Keith’s attempted suicide stunt. Instead, anger begins to creep in.

“Ah! Keith!” Coran calls. “We were just about to discuss what to do about Lotor!”

“We could use your help, Keith,” Allura smiles at him.

“Actually, just give us a second,” Shiro calls out. He walks away from the circle they’d formed around the display Pidge had pulled up. He can’t disappear from the group, but he needs some distance if he’s going to say what he wants. He steps closely to Keith and lowers his voice. He can see some quizzical looks from the team out of the corner of his eye, so he tries to keep his expression neutral. Professional.

“Keith,” he begins quietly, then, “What. Were. You. Thinking?”

“The mission,” Keith answers immediately, matching both Shiro’s level and tone.

“No. I don’t accept that.”

“It doesn’t matter what you accept, Shiro. What’s done is done. I was in a position to save lives. To save Voltron. And the Coalition. To save you. I’d do it all over again. Besides, you don’t get to lecture me on self-sacrifice.”

Shiro knows Keith is right. But, still, he’s angry.

“Keith, please. Don’t throw your life away for me.”

“And what about all of the other innocent lives, Shiro? What about them?”

“I don’t care about them! I care about you!” Shiro takes a breath and brings the volume low again. “Please, don’t do that again.”

“You’re upset,” Keith says flatly, and Shiro can sense Keith’s own anger. “You’re not thinking clearly and you know that. Now is not the time to be emotionally compromised.”

Shiro looks at Keith in surprise, stung at his words. He takes a moment to look at Keith’s face, wearing a familiar mask of hardness, and he thinks things over some more.

“I’m sorry,” he says. “You’re right. I’m a mess and I’m not handling things well. When Matt told me what you did…it feels like everything’s spiraling out of control. Every action is more and more dangerous and I don’t have you with me anymore.”

Keith’s face starts to soften. Shiro knows that Keith has been compartmentalizing his emotions ever since the Blades, Voltron, and rebels have come together for war. But Shiro wants to hope that maybe Keith can take a moment for Shiro, like he used to.

They haven’t said anything for awhile when suddenly there’s a body on the floor next to them. The man is writhing in pain: fists balled and eyes squeezed shut. He wears the Galra prison garb and the undercut has started growing out.

“Shiro!” Keith calls out. To himself or to the man on the floor, he isn’t sure.

Keith solves this by then calling to him. “Shiro! I thought you said there were no more visits!”

“I did! There aren’t!” Both of them are kneeling next to the Shiro of the past. Keith grabs a hold of the man’s hand, while Shiro lays a hand on his past self’s shoulder, trying to soothe some comfort into him.

The other paladins and Coran have run over, too.

“Please!” Shiro shouts at them. “Give me some room!”

They stop a few feet away, but maintain their stance. They look on with confusion and terror, but their stances prove to be more of a vigil than attack.

Shiro looks back at himself and sees Keith has moved to his chest.

“Keith…I don’t remember any of this..”

“Shiro!” Keith interrupts. He’s frantic. “You’re not breathing!”

Shiro moves to his own still face on the floor and leans over. Keith’s right.

_No, no, no, no!_

“Shiro? Keith?” Lance calls out. He’s scared. “What’s going on?”

Both Shiro and Keith ignore the paladins for now, concentrating.

“Keith! You pump the chest!”

Keith nods, understanding what Shiro asks. Shiro tilts back the man-out-of-time's head, jutting the jaw up. He swipes a finger in the mouth and throat, checking that the airway is clear then breathes two deep breathes into his past self.

Keith begins forcefully pushing on Shiro’s diaphragm just below the sternum. When Keith finishes his set, Shiro sets to force air into the lungs again. And again. And again.

The two focus on their tasks without saying a word. And then…

“Shiro!” Keith yells. The man on the floor gasps in ragged breaths as Shiro and Keith hover above the man out of time. They watch his breathing even out, a pink tinge blooming on his face.

“Cold,” the man whispers.

Shiro slides over to put his back against the wall closest to him and pulls his other self to his chest. Keith sidles in close so that the two of them can surround Shiro in their body heat.

The room has gone quiet now. Time traveling Shiro still has his eyes closed, but his body feels relaxed in the comfortable haven Keith and Shiro have provided him with.

He watches Coran take a step forward. His face shows reluctance, but Shiro knows the man is itching to ask.

Coran clears his throat. “Uh, boys…” he begins, addressing Keith and Shiro on the floor. “Would either of you care to tell us what exactly is going on here?”

Shiro and Keith look at each other. How do they explain this? How do they explain Shiro’s moments on the astral plane? Or Keith’s whole life?

“I didn’t know I traveled here,” Shiro starts. “When I was captured by the Galra, I didn’t think I could leave. But…somehow I did. Somehow, I came here. To the future. I thought I only went to the future once…Oh, no.”

The body in his arms feel lighter, less tangible.

“I’m going back. To the lab. To the druids.”

“You’re okay, Shiro,” Keith says to his past-self. “You escape. You make it back.” Keith runs his hand along the man’s jaw, down his neck, and settles over his heart. “I’m going to find you, Shiro. I’ll find you.” Shiro watches Keith make earnest promises to himself. Promises that he will keep. He watches Keith's face say those words and thinks how lucky he is that it is Keith he has through all of this.

They watch as the man fades back to the Galra prison ship, back to his captors. Then, all that is left is the two of them tangled in each other. Shiro knows he’s going to have to explain some more to the group, he can see them waiting. But his focus returns to Keith when he feels the man’s shoulders shake and hears the sob tear from his throat. Shiro holds Keith tight, but feels himself wrapped in comfort when he sees the team kneeling close to them, surrounding them in their concern. Lance and Allura have each placed a hand on them, while Hunk holds Pidge in a loose hug.

“I don’t really know what’s going on,” Lance starts, “but I’m glad you two have each other. And you guys have us too, so maybe we can be stronger together. Not as Voltron, but as people.”

Shiro feels Keith’s tears renew at that. He looks at Lance, really looks at him. Shiro has watched him grow from a cocky, misplaced teen, to a man Shiro trusts his life with.

“Thank you, Lance. For everything. But mostly, for being my friend.”

Keith doesn’t move at Shiro and Lance's words, his face is still buried deep into the black paladin's chest, but Keith reaches out behind him, hand searching. Lance takes it and gives Keith a squeeze.

“You, too, Mullet Head,” Lance says in response to Keith's non-verbal gratitude.

They stay like that for as long as they can: the team protecting their own; Keith and Shiro wound around each other in strength, in love.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! Comments and kudos are greatly appreciated if you enjoyed :)
> 
> Come find me @ [stevieraebarnes](https://stevieraebarnes.tumblr.com)


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